


By Chance

by misomilk



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Christmas fic, M/M, promptio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 23:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9045350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misomilk/pseuds/misomilk
Summary: In which Gladiolus treats a marshmallow looking boy to a Christmas cake. [Set before the events of Brotherhood Episode 2.]





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Celebrating with Christmas chicken and Christmas cakes are a thing in Japan, and since Insomnia is sorta Shinjuku, I figured the same applies.
> 
> I have a feeling I got Prompto's and Iris' ages wrong, but I'll edit it eventually if I have to. XD

Gladiolus is about tenth in line outside the bakery when he notices the boy looking like a marshmallow with a butterscotch tip, leaning on the window. There seem to be sparkles right before the boy’s eyes as he watches the chefs bake cake after cake on the other side of the glass window. It makes Gladiolus smile, too, the innocence of the child adding light to his Christmas spirit. At the very least, this boy’s smile sure helps him ease his frustration at Iris for asking him to wake up so early just to get the specific cake she wanted. (He also wishes this specific store used a reservation system, rather than a first come, first serve basis, but the world shall continue to be unfair even in the holidays.)

The line moves, and people start coming out of the shop, carrying their boxes of cakes. Gladiolus is fifth in line now, and he’s starting to wonder where this kid’s parents are. They seem to be inside for too long. Have they not gotten their cake? Or maybe, he’s lost?

“Hey, kid.” He calls out to the boy in the white, bubbly winter jacket.

The boy doesn’t respond, still gazing upon the cakes inside.

Gladiolus clears his throat, shouting a little louder. “Hey, kid!”

That still does not get the boy’s attention. He feels blush on his cheeks when he hears the old lady behind him giggle. Thankfully, the line moves at that moment. He hopes the closer distance helps.

“Hey, kid! In the white jacket!”

That got the kid’s attention. Rather, he got spooked. The kid jolts in surprise, then starts shaking his head to look around frantically, looking for who called for him. The boy stumbles somehow, even though he hadn’t moved his feet, and falls on his bottom.

Worried, Gladiolus moves out of the line (under the red band marking the queue) and rushes to the boy’s side. He offers a hand. “Are you alright?”

The boy yelps, looking incredibly spooked when he looks up at Gladiolus. (Is he that afraid of him? Does he look that scary?)

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. I just want to help you up.” Gladiolus offers his hand again, and when the boy doesn’t take it, he easily lifts the boy up from the ground with hands to his armpits. “There. All good?”

“Y-y-y-yes!” The boy shouts, half-nervous, half-delighted. “Y-you carried me, mister. You’re so strong!”

Gladiolus grins. “S’okay, you aren’t that heavy, boy.” He pats the boy on the back. “Where are your parents?”

“They’re at work.”

Oh? Then what’s he doing here? “You’re here on an errand? You have to line up at the end of the queue to get the cake, you know.”

“O-oh! No, I’m not on an errand. I just.. I wanted to see the cakes is all.” The boy laughs shyly, rubbing the back of his head. “I--I best be going then!” He says hurriedly, and just when the boy is about to make a run for it, Gladiolus catches him by the arm.

“Hey, hey, hey. Wait a sec.”

“Y-y-yes?”

Gladiolus starts walking back towards the end of the line, but then he sees the old woman standing behind him has reserved his spot. He bows to her, keeping the boy’s wrist in his hand, as they crouch underneath the red band and get back in line.

“You can go inside now,” says the old lady.

“Oh, thank you.” Gladiolus grins at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk in before me? It’s the least I could do--”

“Oh, no, no. It’s okay.” The old lady smiles. “Go on, then.”

“Thank you.”

Gladiolus opens the door, the bell ringing when he pulls it open. He steps aside to let the kid walk in before him. “After you.”

“E-eh? But--”

“No buts, just get on inside.” Gladiolus grins. He chuckles when he slaps the boy at the back, making the boy tumble forward, into the store.

The bakery smells heavenly sweet once they’re inside, and it’s much warmer here. The sides are lined up with cakes and different pastries. On the opposite wall is the counter, towards which five more people are queued, and towards the left is the pick-up counter where three people wait for their cakes to finish wrapping before they head out the door.

Gladiolus guides the kid by the shoulders (The boy also yelps when he places his hands on him. Geez, what a jumpy kid.) towards the right side, the end of the payment queue. Along this right-side wall are Christmas cookies of different designs--cactuars in santa hats, chocobos in different colors, snowbombs and other shapes Gladiolus can’t quite recognize.

“W-why did you take me inside, mister?” The boy asks, his head turned upward so he could look at Gladiolus.

Gladiolus grins wide, teeth showing, and crouches before the kid so that they’re at eye-level. “In the spirit of Christmas, I decided to buy you--” He makes fake drum roll noises. “A cake!”

“E-EH?!” The boy’s eyes go so wide, they seem to come out of his glasses. “EH? Really!? Is that okay?”

“It sure is.” Gladiolus nods, reassuring the boy. “Take it as sorry for startling you?”

“O-okay…” The boy nods, though he still looks unsettled if it’s okay to receive a cake. Then again, maybe Gladiolus /should/ have thought this through. It must be weird for the kid to receive cake from someone he doesn’t know. Oh, shit. Does this make him seem suspicious?

Gladiolus pushes those thoughts away, however, and just goes with his gut. “Hey, don’t be upset. Listen here, you can surprise your parents with this cake when they get home from work, yea? Does that sound like a good idea?”

The boy seems to brighten up a little. He nods his head, and that makes Gladiolus feel better.

“Alright.”

As they wait in line, Gladiolus watches the kid look at each and every cookie. He delights in being able to give this kid the simple joy of looking through Christmas sweets. (Like he’s truly celebrating the spirit of Christmas. It’s all about giving, right?) He realizes, however, the kid looking far often at the chocobo designs more than all the other ones. Interesting. Maybe he likes chocobos?

The line moves, and Gladiolus finds himself wondering why the kid is all alone by himself on Christmas eve. Could parents truly ever be too busy that they leave their child alone? That they even let him out of the house without supervision? Couldn’t at least one of them have taken leave? What good is the money you make for a kid when you can’t even spend time with them?

Gladiolus sighs, saddened by his thoughts, but his sighing seems to have made the boy yelp again. (/Incredibly/ jumpy kid.) “Hm? What’s wrong?”

“I--I--I--I’m sorry. Maybe you’re regretting b-b-buying me a cake-- Ow!”

“You stop that right now.” Gladiolus laughs as he squeezes the boy’s nose. It’s so cold. He lets go of it so the boy can breathe. “I’m buying you that cake whether you like it or not.”

“But you don’t even know me…”

Gladiolus chuckles. “Silly. You don’t need to know people to want to put a smile on their face.”

The boy’s eyes widen again, and pink dusts his cheeks. He looks so adorable, Gladiolus wants to squish him. This giant marshmallow.

“Sorry, though. I didn’t really consider it might be weird to get cake from a stranger...." He surprises himself that he voices out that worry from earlier.

“NO!! Not at all!” The boy wildly shakes his head that he stumbles forward. Gladiolus catches him and sets him back straight. “I’m very thankful, mister!”

“Good.” Gladiolus pats the boy’s head. “You’re a very good kid. I wish I had a brother like you. My sister is too spoiled sometimes.”

“Oooh, you have a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s five years old.”

“Oooh,” the boy repeats. The wonder in his eyes is palpable. He looks down at his fingers and counts. “Three years younger than me.”

"Oh," is Gladiolus’ turn to say it. The boy is the prince's age. The teen wonders if the kid and the prince are classmates.

The line moves again, and Gladiolus finally gets to pick which cake he wants. He lowers the menu for the boy to see closer, and the boy ends up pointing at the chocolate cake. The cashier punches in their orders, and they walk--Gladiolus’ hands on the boy’s shoulders to guide him--towards the pick up queue. Soon, they’re out of the shop, each with a cake box in hand. (Though the boy holds it with both hands.)

“Finally outta there.” Gladiolus cracks his neck, left then right.

“Thank you very much again, mister!” The boy bows to him. They’re standing at the same spot they first met.

Gladiolus grins. "You’re welcome. Thanks for making the wait much less taxing.” He pats the boy’s head again, the boy’s giggles making his heart soar with glee. “You know how to head home from here?”

The boy nods.

“Okay. Don’t get lost, or trip on the way, okay?”

“Okay!” The boy nods. Then he stops, frozen still. He looks away from Gladiolus, looking like he’s wondering if now is the proper time to leave.

Gladiolus laughs, and the boy yelps at his laughter’s loudness. He pushes the boy by the back. “I’ll see you around, okay, kid? Merry Christmas.”

The boy’s eyes sparkle at the greeting, his lips curving so wide that his teeth show. His smile beams brighter than the sun hiding beneath the clouds above them. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” The boy shouts with all his might, and then he starts running away, giggling the entire time.

Gladiolus watches after the kid, almost runs after him when he sees the boy lose footing--but he got back up on his feet. (Thankfully, without smashing the box.) He’s a little worried if the boy can make it back home without a scratch, but he’s got his own to walk back to, too. Can’t keep Iris waiting any longer, after all.

He looks at the cake. “Let’s get on home, then.”

***

~Years Later~

“And then when I got home and opened the box, one of the cookies I was looking at was in there?!?!!” Prompto screams, waving his hands as he tells the story to Noctis. They’re at a Crow’s Nest booth, Ignis and Noctis sitting side by side. Gladiolus across Ignis. Prompto across Noctis. “It was soooooooo amazing. How’d he even know which one I wanted?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard this like, dozens of dozens of times.” Noctis sighs.

“What is it a story of?” Ignis asks, intrigued.

Noctis chuckles, teasing. “His first love.”

Gladiolus chokes on his drink, alarming the rest of them sitting at the table. Ignis stands up to help pat his back, get his throat loose. He hears Noctis and Prompto asking if he’s okay.

Damn. /Damn./ Gladiolus is sure his face is beet red by now. /Fuck./ He never realized Prompto was the kid he treated to cake years ago. The shield never knew Prompto was fat, so he never considered it would’ve been him. Gladiolus tries to breathe calmly, although he also wants to knock himself out.

To think that the boy whose smile was like sunshine that Christmas would now be the man that unknowingly holds Gladiolus’ feelings... Yeesh. Had his heart recognized Prompto immediately once they met again? Was that why his heart beat so fast from the time when he first saw him at the arcade with Noctis?

“Are you okay, Gladio?” Prompto asks, a gloved hand on his arm. The touch is so warm.

“Y-yeah,” Gladiolus clears his throat with the same arm that was touched, just so Prompto would let go. He looks towards Noctis. “Hey, knock off the jokes.”

“But he admitted that was his first love.”

“Stop it, Noct! That’s embarrassing.” Prompto giggles, waving his hand, not really denying if it was his first love or not. He pops another kenny fry into his mouth, then sighs. “But it really is nice thinking back on it. My best Christmas ever.”

Gladiolus busies himself with his Kenny burger, but he still asks. “Did your parents make it back that evening?”

“Hmm?” Prompto looks at him. Or at least, Gladiolus feels him look at him. The burly man is too embarrassed to look his way. “Made it back when?”

“The evening when you got that Christmas cake and chocobo cookie.”

“Ah, they did, they did.” Prompto nods, his smile beaming brighter than the midnoon sun. “That’s the first and only Christmas we got to spend together. I’ll remember that night--that /day/--fondly forever.” Prompto seems to smile to himself for a moment, the rest of them smiling with him, happy for him. “But wow, Gladio,” Prompto turns to face him again. Gladiolus feels like he’s shrinking, despite being double the younger’s size. “You sure pay attention to details. Thanks for asking about that.”

“No problem.” Gladiolus sips on his soda, then realizes Noctis is looking at him, suspicious. “What?”

“I’ve heard this story more than a dozen times, but I’ve never heard what the cookie shape was.”

Gladiolus’ eyes widen. His heart is pacing. /Uh oh./

“How’d you know it was a chocobo cookie?”

/Oh shit./

Noctis keeps pressing on and Gladiolus wishes he wouldn’t. “Hey, Prompto. Have you ever told this guy that story?”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I…..”

Gladiolus’ mistake that moment, perhaps, was to look Prompto in the eye. At that exact moment, a huge rush comes over him, like his whole body has been taken in by a tidal wave. He feels like he could faint from exhaustion right at that moment, just from the intensity of the gaze between him and Prompto, swallowing him up from inside out.

The spell breaks when Prompto shouts out loud. “AAAAAAH!” Prompto quickly grabs his hand (He hears Noctis ask. “What’s wrong, Prompto?”) and holds it between his two small ones. “I FOUND YOU!”

“What is happening?” Noctis asks.

“I’m very happy for the two of you.” Ignis applauds.

“W-wait a minute, I haven’t confirmed--”

“But it /is/ you? Isn’t it?” Prompto asks, sparkles in his eyes just like that day years ago when he was looking at cakes being baked.

Gladiolus looks towards Ignis, hoping his friend could help him, but Ignis simply nods. Like he’s saying “Take the chance.”

The shield swallows thick, trying to keep his emotions in order, then he smiles towards Prompto.

He takes the chance.


End file.
